Chapter 175: Pinduoduo

On Double Twelve, Taobao and JD competed fiercely, with intense battle conditions.

Taobao shouted the slogan "National Shopping Frenzy," offering 50% off with free shipping, while Zhifubao launched a "Recharge 100, Get 100 Back" campaign.

Ma Liyun calculated precisely, using Ali's marketing budget to promote Zhifubao and aiming to increase its market share.

Even regular online shoppers instinctively distrusted third-party payment apps like Zhifubao.

People usually paid via online banking or transferred a few dozen yuan into Zhifubao, then recharged after spending it all.

But Ma Liyun had high expectations for Zhifubao and refused to wait passively for users to come, so he launched this "money-dropping" campaign during Double Twelve.

Chen Yan sent 100 yuan into his Zhifubao account and immediately received a 100-yuan cash red packet from Taobao, with few restrictions except that it couldn't be used for virtual products.

The cashback red packet could be used for any single purchase of 100 yuan or more, but each person could participate only once.

It was practically free money!

During the campaign, there were only 120, 00 slots—just this one feature cost 12 million yuan.

Even Chen Yan, accustomed to internet cutthroat competition, couldn't help but whistle—no wonder, years later, netizens would beg to call Ma Liyun "Dad."

This promotional method was simple and extravagant.

Not much money, yet extremely effective!

JD didn't fall behind, launching a marketing slogan: "White, Fashion, Beauty"—selling a Smart car, normally priced at 115, 00 yuan, at rock-bottom prices; offering extended warranties and home repair services; assigning attractive couriers to deliver goods to buyers in first-tier cities.

Additionally, 20-yuan, 30-yuan, and 50-yuan JD coupons, with no minimum spend, were prominently displayed on the main event page, available in limited quantities at the top of each hour.

Given JD's user base at the time, aside from the 50-yuan coupons being slightly hard to get, the 20- and 30-yuan ones were practically free for the taking.

In marketing tactics, JD and Taobao played simple, brute-force games.

As for Pinduoduo's promotional copy, it was remarkably concise.

Use Pinduoduo, every day is Double Eleven; use Pinduoduo, be smarter!

The product added a new Hundred-Billion Subsidy channel on top of its original features.

It was placed at the center of the app's home screen, and on PC, it appeared in the upper middle of the webpage, with daily UV exposure reaching 20 million.

All products here were manually selected and filtered through a price-comparison system to ensure they were the lowest prices across the entire internet.

In addition, the campaign team set up 5-yuan and 10-yuan no-minimum coupons, as well as discount red packets of 20, 30, 50, 100, 500, and 1000 yuan.

Though the scale didn't match JD's or Taobao's, the discounts on individual items were even more aggressive.

But back then, e-commerce promotions hadn't yet reached the difficulty level of the college entrance exam; complex marketing tools like store coupons, item-specific coupons, multi-item discounts, brand gold, category red packets, and general red packets had mostly not yet appeared.

When shopping, people simply checked if there was a store coupon—if there was, they'd grab it; if not, they'd switch to New Fox Taobao to get a few yuan in cashback, then happily complete their order.

Compared to over a decade later, both platforms and merchants were far more honest.

There were some tricks, but not many.

Chen Yan stood up and walked to the window, gazing at the brightly lit Building 6 across the way.

This was Pinduoduo's first major promotion!

Everyone was taking it extremely seriously!

Everyone planned to stay until the day's performance data came out, so the admin department had already booked hotels.

Chen Yan stepped out, took the elevator down to the first floor, and headed toward Building 6.

The early winter wind howled, the weather growing colder.

Besides Pinduoduo and Orange Tech, there were a few other companies in the tech park, but all had already closed for the day, their office buildings dark.

As Chen Yan stepped onto the second floor, he heard a customer service rep exclaim excitedly: "Got it! That 100-yuan Zhifubao red packet—too slow and you miss out!"

"Jingjing, you're amazing! Help me grab one—I missed both rounds."

Another customer service rep looked dejected and urgently asked for help.

"Sure, give me your account." Tian Jing squinted, smiling cheerfully as she agreed.

Chen Yan's forehead darkened with black lines; he shook his head helplessly, saying nothing.

For these eighteen- and nineteen-year-old college students, an easy chance to earn 100 yuan was simply irresistible.

Although the 100-yuan balance couldn't be withdrawn and could only be spent, some Taobao sellers had already privately promoted in shopping groups that they could help users "cash out" at 85% value.

Chen Yan continued forward, arriving at the merchant recruitment team's office area.

"Sen Ge!"

"Boss!"

Those calling him Sen Ge were Zhang Yifeng, Li Hui, and Yuan Wei; newer recruits in merchant recruitment all called Chen Yan "Boss."

Chen Yan gave a slight nod in response.

He pulled over a chair and sat down, asking Zhang Yifeng: "How are the fruits from Guangdong selling?"

"We sold 270, 00 units of sugar tangerines, 190, 00 units of emperor oranges—the local agricultural association says next spring's kinnows, wogan, and sugarcane will all be sold through Pinduoduo."

Zhang Yifeng replied with a smile.

Earlier, he and Yuan Wei and Li Hui had spent most of a month in Guangdong, successfully convincing major local fruit suppliers thanks to the outstanding sales of navel oranges.

When they returned to Xucheng, their suitcases were packed with contracts.

"After Double Eleven, go to Shenzhen's digital and home appliance industrial belts to develop business—contact Teacher Cao before you go. Pinduoduo's positioning differs from Taobao's; we must go straight to the source factories to bypass middlemen and secure the best prices, creating product advantages."

Chen Yan patted Zhang Yifeng on the shoulder and gave serious instructions.

In his view, for Pinduoduo to rise into the top three e-commerce platforms—or even become number one—relying solely on Tencent's traffic, group-buying virality, and price-cutting user acquisition wasn't enough.

The core was: focus on lower-tier markets to find target users; strengthen supply chain management to build stable supply-side advantages; optimize logistics and delivery processes to improve efficiency and reduce costs.

Yunsu was his hidden card; partnering with industrial belts was his open one.

"Sen Ge, don't worry, I understand." Zhang Yifeng nodded firmly.

During this time, he'd come to understand the difference between recruiting merchants for Fox Taobao and for Pinduoduo.

Previously at Fox Taobao, he could only interact with operations staff, store managers, or online contacts—he never reached brand owners, factories, or industrial belt resources.

For example, when he promoted a 399-yuan air fryer with a 60% commission at Fox Taobao, he worried the merchants would lose money.

Now he knew the factory price of an air fryer was under 60 yuan.

Last week, a merchant recruiter from the home appliances team—a former category manager at Store No. 1—negotiated a 99-yuan free-shipping air fryer with a factory in Cixi.

In just three days online, it sold 370, 00 units, completely exhausting the factory's monthly production capacity.

For this Double Twelve, they ran three shifts, rushed out 200, 00 units, and had to switch remaining sales to pre-orders.

Chen Yan chatted briefly with Yuan Wei and Li Hui.

Soon after, several young women from the admin department arrived carrying large bags of KFC.

"One per person! More pizza, barbecue, and hotpot coming later—this is just the appetizer!"

Xu Xingxing shouted from the stairwell.

People on the second floor laughed and gathered around.

Chen Yan stood up to leave when he saw Song Yuncheng approaching; he waved to her.

They grabbed drinks and sat down in the terrace lounge.

"We sold 734 Chery e5s, 12, 75 units of AOC air conditioners, 3, 78 Yamy beauty devices, and 1, 45 bottles of 43-degree Maotai..."

Song Yuncheng began listing the sales figures of the merchants she managed that day.

"Then Song Zong's commission next month will be huge—wanna treat me to dinner at Mingli?"

Chen Yan shook his drink, smiling as he asked.

"No." Song Yuncheng blushed and refused bluntly.

Treating him to dinner wasn't the issue—it was what happened when he returned to the hotel, where he'd invent all sorts of tricks on her.

Every time she recalled those bizarre antics, her ears burned red.

"Then I'll treat you." Chen Yan smiled.

"The moon's quite round." Song Yuncheng turned her head, deliberately changing the subject.

"So are you." Chen Yan teased.

Song Yuncheng followed his gaze until she saw where it landed, then understood his meaning and gave him a playful glare.

Meanwhile, in Beijing, Liu Qiangdong hadn't left work either.

He sat in his office, staring at real-time sales data; when sales surpassed one billion yuan, he finally exhaled in relief.

Remember, JD's total Double Eleven sales were only 1. 6 billion yuan, and Double Twelve's traffic was far lower—now it was only 8 PM, with four hours left until the promotion ended.

"By the way, how much did JD sell on Pinduoduo?"

Thinking of this, Liu Qiangdong opened the data center's report link and clicked in.

Seeing the top summary number, his face froze, and he felt embarrassed.

Of JD's one billion yuan in sales, 16% came from Pinduoduo's channel—nearly one-fifth.

Pinduoduo had been online for less than a month—how many daily active users did it even have?

(End of Chapter)